Author: Gomolemo Mothomogolo

Unisa chancellor, Thabo Mbeki has lauded the institution’s contribution to empowering thousands of people saying it must live up to its vision of becoming an African University. Unisa celebrated its 150 year’s anniversary at its main campus in Pretoria on Monday with its chancellor and former President Mbeki, Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, Minister of Higher Education and Science and Innovation, Blade Nzimande, its vice chancellor, Puleng LenkaBula and its chairperson of Council, Mashukudu Maboa amongst other luminaries. Mbeki said the institution continues to make strides in academic fields despite the allegation of corruption and maladministration. “I am glad you offered…

The Minister of Higher Education Science and Innovation, Blade Nzimande says he is still studying the report of the Independent Assessor into the Affairs of the University of South Africa (Unisa) that found irregularities, flaunting procedures and systematic challenges at the institution. “I expect to finalise this as soon as possible. It is an extensive report. I also have to study the response by the council including the vice chancellor. Remember also when I gazetted the report other people who have an interest have also written to me stating their own views so it is important to study those very…

The religious group – Active African Christians United Movement (AACUM) is planning to file a class action lawsuit against the government regarding the cholera outbreak that claimed the lives of 31 people, 29 from Gauteng and one each from the Free State and Mpumalanga. AACOM leader, Advocate MoAfrica Maile said the organisation plans to file the court papers next week and they are confident that they have a strong case in respect of more than 100 families from the Hammanskraal community. “The current phase of the class action on Hammanskraal is at an advanced stage.There was a lot of work…

A senior employee at the National Department of Health (NDoH) , Popo Maja was granted R5 000 at the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday. The 63-year-old allegedly received two bribes from Digital Vibes to secure a tender worth R141 million. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), in 2019, Maja was allegedly appointed as a member of the Bid Specification and Bid Evaluation Committee tasked with the appointment of a communications services provider in relation to the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill. On 1 November 2019 the Committee set down for functional and technical evaluation of the bidders after…

On Monday, a group of anti-illegal immigrant activists targeted stalls owned by foreign nationals in Marabastad demanding that all illegal foreigners leave South Africa and this sparked fears among informal traders whose stalls were ransacked. The South African Concerns Resident Association (SACRA) representative, Lucas Makhubele said they had a meeting with business, informal trader and taxi association to map a way forward admitting that “things got out of hand” yesterday during the demonstration. Makhubele said residents of Tshwane want their capital city back and they want illegal immigrants gone. “We were part of that thing yesterday. It is just that…

The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality urged residents who are still experiencing prolonged power outages in the areas affected by the Koedoespoort electricity substation to call its consumers care-line as power is back up. The Municipality spokesperson, Selby Bokaba confirmed that power has been restored in areas that were affected by transformer explosions at the Koedoespoort substation. “All affected areas of Koedoespoort Sub are back. If there is a customer that is still without power the complaint should be reported through customer care for the maintenance team to attend to it,” said Bokaba. Earlier on Saturday, the mayor Cilliers Brink…

Civil rights organisations want the government to do more to keep pupils in school and ensure there is representation of the young in decision making positions. Scores of primary and high school pupils joined two NGOs – National Youth Coalition (NYC) and Zero Dropout as they marched to the Union Building to demand the government do more to support young people in the country. The two group’s Youth Day commemoration was also filled with festivities where young people performed on a stage set up outside the Union Buildings. Zero Dropout Campaign, Communication manager Colin Wardle, decried the dropout rate in…

South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) calls on the government to introduce a R1500 unemployment grant saying the R350 currently being rolled out is inadequate. The R350 was introduced in 2020 as the Covid-19 Social Relief DIstress grant to alleviate poverty when many people and small businesses lost their incomes because of lockdown. The grant has been extended until 2024. South Africa’s unemployment rate is amongst the highest in the world at 32,9 % registered in the first quarter of 2023. The federation made this call during its pickets outside the Department of Social Development in Pretoria on Thursday. Saftu…

Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane says the online admissions process got off to a smooth start on Thursday urging parents to apply early for next year’s admission. The Gauteng Education Department opened its online admissions for Grade 1 and Grade 8 with Chiloane monitoring the opening at Winter-veldt Multi Purpose Center. Registration opened from Thursday and will close in a month on 14 July 2022. Parents are urged to apply early to ensure their children are placed at their preferred schools. The MEC for Education said they received about 60 000 applications in the first hour without any technical…

Eskom has threatened to drag the DA-led City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality to court if it fails to service its almost R2 billion debt. The power utility said the metro has been struggling to pay invoices in full and its debt has now skyrocketed to a whopping R1,9 billion. “The debt has now escalated to just under R1,9 billion as of 9 June 2023. The March 2023 invoice, which was payable on 19 April 2023, was short paid by R179 million, while the April 2023 invoice of R776 million, payable on 18 May 2023, remains unpaid. Eskom has issued the…